It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
by macisgate
Summary: Sam gets a chance to reflect on her relationship with Jack after he kicks her off base for downtime. A little romance, a little humour, a little bit of everything! Enjoy!


It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Rating: G

Season: any with Daniel and the gang. Pick your favorite!

Spoilers: none at the moment

Summary: Sam gets a chance to reflect on her relationship with Jack after he kicks her off base for downtime. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Heavy sigh. No ownership rights as of yet. Bother.

A/N: Hey everyone! Well, there's no snow here at the moment... But my feet are cold! And so I shall tell a winter's tale... Enjoy!

Sam played intently with her fingers under the briefing room table, impatience grating on her usually calm composure as Daniel attempted to conclude their debriefing.

Their mission had been a standard recon that, for once, had gone off without any problems – except for the minor case of itching when the Colonel had them camp beside what turned out to be P4X-987's version of poison ivy. Lucky for them the effects had worn off quickly.

But the planet had some interesting remains, which was why they were now on hour three of a thirty-minute briefing.

"So what you're trying to say, Dr. Jackson, is that you would like one of the archeological teams to return to the planet?"

Yes, even Generals got bored too.

"Well... yes, I guess that's it."

"Very well. I'll assign SG-5 to return tomorrow morning. The rest of you are on downtime for the next three days."

"Yes!"

"Except for you, Colonel."

"What? Why not me?"

"Because you owe me too much paperwork."

"But..."

"No buts, Colonel. You're weeks behind."

Jack put on a pout as he gathered his things to leave the briefing. Sam felt a little sorry for him, but the project in her lab kept her pity in check. Still, she took the time to wait and walk with him down the hallway.

"So, Carter, any big plans for your downtime?" Jack asked, longing in his voice as visions of Minnesota began to dim.

"Actually yes. I'm working on incorporating long range scanning beacons..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jack stopped mid-step. "Did you just say work?"

Sam looked down at her feet and then over at the wall, refusing to meet his eyes.

"It's just a little lab work, sir. I've been waiting for a chance to work on this for weeks," her eyes finally met his

"Carter! What have I been telling you since the day we met?"

She rolled her eyes and ticked off on her fingers as she went through the list. "Take it easy. Get a life. Don't stay up all night in the lab. Don't stay up all night at home on my laptop. Don't help Daniel in his lab when you kick me out of mine."

"Exactly."

"But sir, this experiment is really important."

"And it can't wait a few days?"

"No, it can't. Most of the scientists I'll be working with are due for a mission to P2X-732 on Monday to study the solar eclipses of planet's three suns. Not exactly something that will go on hold."

She was getting cranky now, and so was he.

"Carter, if you don't leave this base in twenty minutes-"

"Sir, I told you-"

"Let me finish. All I ask is that you go spend five hours out on the town before you come back and hole yourself in your lab with all the other eggheads for the weekend."

"Sir, why is it so important to you?"

"Because life is to be enjoyed, Carter. It goes by too fast. You need to take it while you've got it."

"What about Daniel? He's not leaving either."

"Yeah right he's not. I'm going after him next," he promised. "Now go have some fun."

"Fine, sir, fine," she stomped off. "I'll go paint the town red. If fact, I'll even bring you back a coffee from your favorite shop."

"Carter, you're an angel!" he shouted after her. "And bring me back some donuts!"

"Arrgh!" her growl reverberated off the corridor walls.

"Bye now," he waved at her retreating form.

Now for Daniel. This was going to be fun. Hopefully, he'd be a little easier to convince than Sam.

"Daniel, what ya doin'?" he entered his friend's office and picked up a vase.

"Huh?" Daniel looked up from his notebook. "Oh, hey Jack. I was just making some notes about the archeological importance of P4X-987. Did you know..."

"Ah! I choose not to know. I just came here to kick you off base."

"Um... no."

"No?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Jack, I may have spent a lot of time in the deserts of Egypt, but I know a bad snowstorm when I see it," Daniel pointed at the small television sitting on his bookshelves. "And would you please put that down."

"What are you talking about?" Jack walked over to the set where the weather channel was showing scenes from outside. People were being advised to stay inside if possible.

"Oh man."

"What?"

"I sent Carter out in this."

"Jack, I'm sure once she saw the weather, she would know not to leave."

"I don't know Daniel, she was kind of mad at me for kicking her out," he walked over to Daniel's phone. "Hello? Yes, did Major Carter leave the base? Oh, okay."

"Well?"

"She left."

"Try her cell."

"There must be interference because of the storm," he said after the failed attempt.

"So what do we do now?"

"We go after her, that's what."

ooooooooooooooooooo

"What do you mean we're not allowed to leave?"

"I just got a message from General Hammond, sir. Nobody is allowed to leave the base until the storm lets up."

"But Carter's already out there."

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I've got my orders."

"Come on, Jack. Let's go back inside. We can keep trying to reach her cell."

"Fine."

ooooooooooooooooooo

Well, if the Colonel had wanted her to get a life, he could have picked a better night. She drove slowly over the town's snow-covered streets. The place was dead. But the lights were still on at the diner, so she pulled in and put her car in park in the most protected spot she could find. The last thing she wanted was to have to dig her way out.

Sam shivered as she entered the diner. Why the Colonel loved the coffee here so much she didn't know. But the place did have a nice atmosphere.

"Hey, can I get a black coffee and a box of donuts to go, please?" she rubbed her gloved hands over her arms in an attempt to warm up.

"Sure thing, honey."

"You may want more than that. We're going to be here a while."

Sam looked over to see a police officer sitting on one of the counter stools nursing his own cup of coffee.

"What do you mean?"

"The storm's too bad for driving in. I'm afraid you're going to be stuck here for a while."

"Oh, but I got here just fine. I'm used to this kind of weather."

"Yeah, well, experienced or not, I've got orders to keep people off the roads."

Sam sighed as she took a seat at the counter as well. "First I'm ordered to leave, then I'm ordered not to leave. Could I get cream for that coffee please. And forget the donuts. Could I get two blueberry muffins instead?"

"Do you want those heated?" Amanda, as her nametag called her, asked.

"Yes please."

She turned back to the cop. "So how long do you expect it will be before we can leave?"

"Oh, I'd say a few hours. Probably by 10:00 or 10:30 we'll be out of here."

"That late?"

"I'm afraid so."

"I'd better call the base, and let them know where I am... Drat, there must be interference with the snow."

"Base? You with the military?" the woman behind the counter asked.

"Yeah, with the Air Force. I work at Cheyenne Mountain."

"What rank?"

"Major."

"Whoa, good for you. You must have worked hard."

"I was a lieutenant during the Gulf," the police officer joined the conversation.

"With the Air Force?"

"That's right."

"So was I. Why did you leave, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Met the woman of my dreams and fell in love with her... or maybe it was just her coffee," he winked at Amanda.

"You guys are married?"

"Fourteen years this March."

"Congratulations."

"Well, it would have been fifteen if Rick had had his way and we'd eloped."

"Didn't see any sense in waiting."

"What about you..."

"Sam. And no, I'm not married."

"Are you seeing anyone?" she asked as she gave Sam her coffee.

"Not at the moment."

"Ah, but there's someone special, isn't there?"

Sam wasn't quite sure what to say. What was this, twenty questions? She certainly didn't want to go into too much detail.

"Well, I've been really busy with work. A long-term relationship just isn't possible right now."

"Ah Sam, you need to learn that there are more important things to life than work."

"My CO keeps telling me that. But what if it's really important, life-altering work?"

"You're life's important too."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"No buts about it. Why can't you have both?"

Now what was she supposed to say to that? She certainly didn't want to go into detail about regulations and her feelings for her CO. She could resign and still be involved in the program as a civilian. But what if it didn't work out?

"I suppose I could. But it wouldn't be easy. And what if it didn't work out?"

"Well, as they say, better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

"You know, he's right," an elderly woman piped up from the corner. It was then that Sam realized they'd drawn quite an audience with their conversation. "I was married for 45 years when my first husband died. I didn't think I would survive. But then I met my Harold. We didn't waste any time in getting married. When you get to be my age, you don't have time to let reason and logic have the ultimate say."

"The old lady's right," another voice joined in. Sam looked over to the other corner where a group of teenagers were sitting. The boy was pierced from head to toe with multi-coloured hair. "You just got to embrace life, man. Make every day count. You got to see the beauty in every moment, be willing to take a chance... hold on, I got to write that down," he took out a notebook and started scribbling what Sam could only guess was the world's latest poem.

Where had these people come from? She turned back to her coffee. They couldn't understand. They didn't understand the seriousness of her job. How could they? It was her job to make sure they didn't have to. It was ridiculous. But what if she did stay on as a civilian? It could work out, possibly. But what if it didn't?

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Four hours later, Sam made her way into Cheyenne Mountain, her arms laden with bags of coffee and donuts. Four hours of heart to heart conversation with total strangers hadn't been her idea of how to spend the evening, but it had helped her think through some things. Actually, a lot of things. It was like the whole group had ganged up on her. One of the customers actually turned out to be a psychology professor. He'd had some interesting things to say about her situation. Fear of commitment, fear of risk taking, the desire for stability... Childhood to present, she felt like her whole life had been rung through a wringer washer.

"Hey, do you know where Colonel O'Neill is?" she asked a passing SF.

"I think he's in the briefing room, ma'am."

"Thanks."

No, they were wrong. They didn't understand. It couldn't work out. It just couldn't. And that was that.

She opened the door to the briefing room to find Daniel, Teal'c, and General Hammond seated around the table with Colonel O'Neill pacing beside the table.

"I hope you don't mind lukewarm coffee, sir. It's not exactly room temperature out there."

"Carter, thank God," he shocked her by wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"Sir? You okay?" Sam mumbled into his shoulder as she couldn't help but hug him back... or at least attempted to as she still held onto her bags.

"I'm so sorry I sent you out in that. I didn't know, and then they wouldn't let me go get you."

"It's okay sir. I just got to sit in your favorite diner and have my life analyzed by complete strangers for the past four hours."

"Carter, I swear, next time I order you to get a life, just hit me over the head and make a run for your lab, okay?"

"Okay, sir," she smiled.

"Come on, sir. I got your favorite donuts and coffee for everyone."

"Carter, you're an angel," he let go of her to take the bags from her hands and set them on the briefing room table. Soon enough he had powdered sugar covering his lips as he attempted to keep the jam from running over his fingers.

What if it did work out?

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

The End!

There we go! I hope you enjoyed that. Turned out a little different than I'd expected, but that's okay. Thanks so much for reading!

Best wishes and lots of love!

macisgate


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